Grilled Buffalo Chicken Salad with Greek Yogurt Blue Cheese Dressing

Happy May, friends! May is one of my favorite months of the year, because we always have so many fun things going on. But because our calendar is always packed, May also tends to be one of the more stressful months out of the year for me (it even rivals the chaos that is December).

When my to do list and calendar get full, I still tend to revert back to some unhealthy behaviors—namely not taking time to take care of myself. I really struggle with (and I think most of us do) seeing myself as a priority, and that issue is super apparent when I’m feeling overwhelmed.

One particular way that I put myself on the back burner when I’m swamped is by not making it a priority to cook. Which, I know, sounds crazy for a food blogger to say, but it’s the truth. When I’m overloaded with to-dos, I’ll often skip meals or grab whatever snacky thing is the nearest—mostly because I convince myself I don’t have time to make myself food. Of course, that’s not the case. It’s not that I don’t have time. It’s that I’m not making it a priority. And those are not the same thing.

Whenever I notice myself falling into this spiral of poor eating, I go back to basics. I go back to freezer cooking and food prepping. I cut myself some slack and stock the kitchen with healthy convenience foods.

And I plan simple, easy, quick meals. Meals that are so fast that it actually takes less time to make them than it would to stare into the depths of the fridge and wonder what I should be making for dinner. And one of those meals that always makes it on the list is a big, fat dinner salad.

Now, despite what you might think about people who eat healthy, I, myself, am not a salad person. I normally eat salads out of obligation. Like, I see that my dinner has almost no veggies in it, so I pull out some lettuce from the fridge out of guilt. I’m not the kind of girl who whips out a mixing bowl from the cabinet, fills it with lettuce, and happily eats that for lunch everyday. Nope. Not even a little.

However, I do love a good dinner salad. You know the kind. The one with tons of delicious toppings that make it feel hearty, filling, and not like you’re eating bunny rabbit food. It’s the kind of salad where it feels a lot less like an obligation and more like a meal. Those are the kinds of salads I like to eat. And this Grilled Buffalo Chicken Salad is totally one of those salads.

This buffalo chicken salad is perfect for the chaotic times in my life, because start-to-finish, it comes together in less than 20 minutes. And since the chicken is done on the grill, there are almost no dishes to wash once dinner is done. It packs in tons of nutrition and flavor, and the leftovers can even be turned into a Mason jar salad for lunch the next day.

The base of this salad is crunchy romaine lettuce (I’m totally a romaine kinda girl), and it’s topped with slightly-spicy grilled buffalo chicken. Then the whole thing is drizzled with a really easy, really healthy Greek yogurt blue cheese dressing. The contrast between the warm and spicy chicken and the cool and creamy dressing is top-notch. Yum.

Right now, I’m going to go turn on the Retro Pop Spotify playlist (it’s awesome), put on my apron, and do a few hours worth of food prep so I can make sure we have healthy, grab-and-go foods to snack on all week long. I am deciding right now to put myself and my health as a priority. No item on my to-do list is more important than feeding myself and my family well.

Take care of yourself, okay? Enjoy!

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Grilled Buffalo Chicken Salad with Greek Yogurt Blue Cheese Dressing

Yield: 2 large dinner salads

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Cool and creamy balances out warm and spicy in this Grilled Buffalo Chicken dinner salad. It comes together in less than 20 minutes!

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Ingredients

For the Dressing:

• 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced chives
• 2 tablespoons fresh minced cilantro
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Milk or water, to thin (about 1-2 tablespoons)

For the Salad:

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce {recommended: Frank's}
• 3 heads romaine lettuce, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Instructions

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients until smooth. You may need to use a fork to break up some of the blue cheese chunks. Refrigerate while you make the rest of the salad.
2. Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium high heat.
3. Season the chicken breasts liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Using a pastry brush (I like this silicone one) brush one side of the chicken breasts with about 1/4 of the buffalo wing sauce.
4. Place the chicken, sauce side down, onto the preheated, greased grill grate or grill pan. Brush the top of the chicken with another 1/4 of the buffalo wing sauce.
5. Cook chicken for 4-5 minutes, or until sear marks appear, then flip. Brush top side with an additional 1/4 of the buffalo wing sauce. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes, or until sear marks appear, then flip. Brush top with last of buffalo sauce. Cook an additional 3-4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
6. Remove the chicken to a plate and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing thinly.
7. Meanwhile, assemble the salads by filling bowls with lettuce, celery, tomatoes, green onions, and blue cheese. Add on the chicken, and then sprinkle with cilantro. Drizzle on the dressing.

Notes

For a stronger (and spicier) buffalo flavor, let the chicken breasts marinate in an additional 1/2 cup of buffalo wing sauce for an hour before grilling.

To keep this salad gluten-free, be sure to check the label for the buffalo wing sauce!

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1 large dinner salad
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 738Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 148mgSodium: 2717mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 24gSugar: 36gProtein: 71g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.